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“First of all, it’s not anything I would ever do, and I was already on my spare bike – so to risk putting my derailleur into Aru’s front wheel is just crazy. I would never risk that at all.

“I lost my balance a little bit coming out of a hairpin and swerved to the right. Aru happened to be on my right and he had to swerve as all.

“It was a genuine mistake and Fabio was the first to recognise that. I apologised straight away on the road as soon as it happened.”

Attacking the Yellow Jersey when he suffers a mechanical problem is regarded as a major breach of peloton etiquette, and another British rider who witnessed Aru’s sudden attack, Simon Yates, branded it a “dirty move.”

Aru, in the green shirt, said he didn't know what had happened to Froome when he attacked (Image: AFP/Getty)

Froome, left, caught up by Sunday's finish to maintain his overall lead of Le Tour (Image: AFP)

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Yates, well-placed to win the White Jersey for best young rider on Le Tour, said: “I don’t like what he did, but it’s a bike race and he can do what he wants.

“I’m not going to bear any grudges – but maybe some of the other guys will. From what I saw, it wasn’t the correct thing to do.”

When told that Aru claimed he didn’t see Froome appealing for urgent mechanical help by raising his arm, Yates snapped: “Absolute bulls*** - Chris had a problem, he wasn’t getting dropped and there was a long way to go in the stage.”